Willow Glen, Lincoln girls in CCS basketball playoffs

It all comes down to this: What every high school basketball player hopes for ... a shot at a Central Coast Section title.

The Willow Glen girls had their first game in the CCS Division II tournament earlier this week. The Rams, the No. 9 seed in the field with an 8-15 season record, were to battle unseeded Leland (13-13), with the winner to face No. 8 Los Altos (17-6) on Thursday. That winner will challenge No. 1 St. Francis (14-11) on March 1 at Christopher High School in Gilroy (all CCS playoffs times and locations are available at cifccs.org).

The Rams are coming out of the strongest division in the Blossom Valley Athletic League. Though they only finished 3-8 in the Mt. Hamilton Division, they were able to quality for the playoffs with a 5-4 record in the preseason, which included wins over Leland (42-39) and Los Altos (46-36).

Despite winning their spot in the CCS playoffs, the Rams did not make it to the BVAL tournament at the end of the league season, but the Willow Glen boys did.

The Rams finished the year with a 58-44 loss to ultimate BVAL tourney champion Oak Grove.

Robert Jones put up 13 points for the Rams with a trio of free throws, while Minsu Lee and Paul Rodriguez tossed in 11 points apiece. Rodriguez hit a three and six at the line, while Lee buried a three and had nailed four free throws.

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Josh Landers added six points, Derek Sornsen scored two and Nate Hitchcock hit a free throw for a point.

The Rams, who finished fifth in the Mt. Hamilton Division with a 6-8 record and ended up 10-15 overall. The good news is that Willow Glen loses only three players to graduation. Playing their last games in red and gold were seniors Jimmy Riley, Rodriguez and Cooper Wilson.

The Lincoln girls basketball team went on to the BVAL tournament, but fell in the first round to Independence 49-29. The Lions, who finished the year 11-3 in the West Valley Division of the BVAL and 12-11 overall, were to move on to the CCS Division II playoffs. They were scheduled to face No. 10 Aragon (9-15) in the first round with the winner to face No. 7 Pioneer (10-12) on Thursday. The winner of that contest will face No. 2 Lynbrook (16-8) on March 1 at Christopher.

There was no playoff berth for the Lincoln boys, who finished the year 3-10 in the Santa Teresa Division and 5-15 overall.